I'll start off with my question and then get to some details:
Is the circled rock doing more harm than good? My concern is having enough rock or surface density for a bare bottom FOWLR vs. roaming space for my little buddies, BJ and Bear.
This is a 14 gallon IM AIO with 14 pounds of BRS "reef saver" rock. The top filter chamber is fiber balls. The middle chamber has the previous generation of fiber balls sitting on top of a poly fiber filter pad and a "Nitrate Removal Filtration Pad" from BRS. The bottom chamber has bio balls and activated carbon. My plan is to add new fiber balls to the top chamber before they get too dirty, and move the old ones down to the second chamber until the next rotation to maintain bacteria. There's enough flow to add another fiber pad each week and cycle those as well. The bio balls don't seem to impact flow at all.
The rock in the tank is in two pieces: The arch in the middle of the tank, which is right at 11 pounds, and the standalone piece that is circled, which is about 3 pounds. The standalone piece is helping to block the view of a heater and the return nozzles.
After adding the fish, it is apparent that they can't (or won't) swim in that corner of the tank at all. The 3 pound piece of rock creates such a small gap that the fish avoid that area. There's just not much more surface area on the bottom to add more rock. So I feel like I have two short-term choices: Remove the rock (less surface area) or leave the rock in place (less exercise area).
Any recommendations from the FOWLR community for this novice and his buddies? Would removing the rock really negatively impact the cycle?
Thanks.
Edit: The tank has now been up and running for 53 days (52 to establish the cycle, and 1 with the fish). I have not needed to clean the tank yet and have had no meaningful algae growth at all yet. There is a protein skimmer in the middle chamber, but it isn't running yet.
Is the circled rock doing more harm than good? My concern is having enough rock or surface density for a bare bottom FOWLR vs. roaming space for my little buddies, BJ and Bear.
This is a 14 gallon IM AIO with 14 pounds of BRS "reef saver" rock. The top filter chamber is fiber balls. The middle chamber has the previous generation of fiber balls sitting on top of a poly fiber filter pad and a "Nitrate Removal Filtration Pad" from BRS. The bottom chamber has bio balls and activated carbon. My plan is to add new fiber balls to the top chamber before they get too dirty, and move the old ones down to the second chamber until the next rotation to maintain bacteria. There's enough flow to add another fiber pad each week and cycle those as well. The bio balls don't seem to impact flow at all.
The rock in the tank is in two pieces: The arch in the middle of the tank, which is right at 11 pounds, and the standalone piece that is circled, which is about 3 pounds. The standalone piece is helping to block the view of a heater and the return nozzles.
After adding the fish, it is apparent that they can't (or won't) swim in that corner of the tank at all. The 3 pound piece of rock creates such a small gap that the fish avoid that area. There's just not much more surface area on the bottom to add more rock. So I feel like I have two short-term choices: Remove the rock (less surface area) or leave the rock in place (less exercise area).
Any recommendations from the FOWLR community for this novice and his buddies? Would removing the rock really negatively impact the cycle?
Thanks.
Edit: The tank has now been up and running for 53 days (52 to establish the cycle, and 1 with the fish). I have not needed to clean the tank yet and have had no meaningful algae growth at all yet. There is a protein skimmer in the middle chamber, but it isn't running yet.
